Lori DiPrete Brown believes networks like EPIC-N help us accelerate change
Lori DiPrete Brown
Co-Chair, UniverCity Alliance
University of Wisconsin, Madison
608-239-1154
Favorite Place
Lake Mendota
What was your first interaction with a school-community partnership project?
My first student-engaged projects were international – working on community public health in La Calera, Ecuador, and Tepatilan, Jalisco, in Mexico. It made me realize how much I love working with, through, and alongside students, and that community-engaged work is the best teacher for all of us.
How did you first learn about EPIC-N?
I learned about EPIC-N in 2016 when the UniverCity Year at UW-Madison joined the network. I attended the conference when it was in Madison. That is when I realized what a vibrant community it is!
What are some of the top priorities you are working on this year?
I am doing work related to the science and art of change, both locally and globally. As a public health practitioner who frames her work in terms of the Sustainable Development Goals, this means developing and testing strategies for improvement, innovation and creativity.
In what ways are you looking to engage, or work with others, either from within the EPIC-Network, or in general?
I am interested in equity and wellbeing.
Why do you think the EPIC-Network is important?
Networks are the key to mobilizing change, fostering comparative learning, and scaling up what works. We are in a race against time when it comes to environmental sustainability, equity, and the development of thriving cities and communities. Networks like EPIC-N help us to accelerate change.
What is your favorite part of the EPIC-Network?
The annual Conference and chances to meet with like-minded educators.
What do you want a community, or university, to know about the EPIC-Network?
EPIC-N is a really flexible model that provides benefits to communities, faculty, and communities. It is a great way to put ideals about change into action.
What led you to participate within the EPIC-Network in your current capacity?
I am a co-chair for the UniverCity Alliance at UW-Madison, and we have a UniverCity Year program. So I got involved. Now I am interested in EPIC-N as a learning community.
What are you hoping attendees will take with them after attending your presentation?
During the April, 2021 EPIC-Network Call, I am hoping to find collaborators and thought partners in relation to using the SDGs to improve the work we do related to sustainability.
Bio
Lori DiPrete Brown, a co-chair of the UniverCity Alliance at UW-Madison, is a public health leader and educator who advances health, equity, and quality of life worldwide. She employs rights-based approaches and the UN sustainable development framework in system strengthening efforts across sectors, both in the US and around the world. Her teaching in the School of Human Ecology and the School of Medicine and Public Health is informed by 15 years of global health practice in 21 countries, and has spanned public health, human rights, civil society, community studies, quality improvement and innovation. Her scholarship includes over 40 articles and reports and a textbook entitled Foundations in Global health Practice (Wiley, 2018). She is a graduate of Yale College, the Harvard Chan School of Public Health, and the Harvard Divinity School.
